The apparatus of this invention lies in the field of solar energy heating of buildings and the like by heating air in a collector and supplying it to any suitable enclosed space. It is more particularly directed to improved means for handling and directing the flow of air to desired locations with simplicity and reliability.
As a result of the increasing scarcity and cost of conventional energy sources used for heating homes and other buildings many schemes have been proposed for utilizing the heat energy of the sun to provide some or all of the heat needed for the purpose. Some schemes are quite simple and cheap but not very effective and play a minor role in the provision of the required quantity of heat. Other schemes are fairly efficient and some of them provide an adequate amount of heat but entail a very high first cost and involve a large amount of complicated equipment.
Up to the present time the installationn of a solar heating system has been a rather piecemeal operation. The usual system has a heat collector which is located in an exposed area and a rock pile enclosure for storing heat. Ducting connects the two components and automatically controlled blower means circulates air between them. Additional ducting with further blower means connects the collector to the building interior space for transmitting heat to the area of use. Further ducting with blower means connects the heat storage unit with the building interior space to provide heat during the hours of darkness when the collector is not effective. All of these items add up to a complicated and expensive installation which is difficult to coordinate.